Combating Corruption, Prosecuting Crimes, and Protecting Consumers: Why The Nevada Attorney General Matters. 

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - OCTOBER 23, 2020: Organized by Mi Familia Vota, Latino women rally to celebrate the political influence of Latinas in US politics and to get out the vote in Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday, October 23, 2020. (Photo by Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

By Carolyn Fiddler

August 8, 2022

The attorney general of Nevada is the people’s lawyer. This November, you have the power to choose who represents you–who fights for you on the issues you care about, and what side they take on those fights.

Your state is electing an attorney general in November! 

So why should you care?

The vast majority of Nevadans most likely never had good reason to wonder, “Who is my state’s attorney general?” 

Strange as it may sound, the answer to that question could soon be crucial to the fate of American democracy—and your ability to decide who your leaders are and what policies they implement on issues like public safety, economic security, and housing.

Over the past two years, states that had competitive elections in 2020 have become settings for increasingly fraught battles over voting rights and election law. Across the country, Republican elected officials and their lawyers have been taking to the courts with false claims of fraud and election rigging during the 2020 contests. While their arguments have been mostly rejected by judges at every level, if Republicans were to take control of the attorney general’s office in Nevada in 2022, those same bogus theories and lawsuits could instead have the full backing of the state government in 2024 and beyond, improving their likelihood of success

One of the most vital lessons from the 2020 elections and their tumultuous aftermath is the importance of lesser-known statewide elected officials. Highly motivated office holders like attorneys general have suddenly become arbiters of who gets to vote, whose vote counts, and who is or isn’t breaking the law to undermine an election. 

As the past two years have shown, the unprecedented attacks on democratic elections in 2020 were merely a dress rehearsal for a far more cynical and wide-ranging assault in 2024. A Democratic attorney general in Nevada and other key states could decide the fate of free and fair elections—the lynchpin of American democracy. 

In addition to their influence over the election of other offices, state attorneys general are also powerful in their own right. The attorney general, for example, determines whether Nevada will join other states’ lawsuits on hot-button issues like contraception and worker’s rights that could reach the Supreme Court. The AG protects consumers by holding predatory corporations accountable for fraud, price gouging, and other exploitative practices. They support and execute programs that protect Nevadans’ constitutional rights, and they prosecute crimes and protect victims. 

Attorneys general are also elected independently, giving them power and discretion to act against the wishes of the state’s governor, who could potentially be a member of a different party. Furthermore, with gridlock in Congress and a conservative supermajority on the U.S. Supreme Court, cases involving states could be more impactful than ever. 

The decisions that impact your day-to-day life the most—and often lead to national change—happen at the state level. There’s no better example of that than the recent Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. The Court’s reversal began with a state-level lawsuit challenging an abortion ban in Mississippi. 

One state’s law led to a lawsuit that overturned abortion rights for millions of women across the country. And at the heart of that fight were state attorneys general—and they’ll be at the heart of many future fights, too. 

If a Republican is elected attorney general of Nevada this fall, they will enjoy tremendous enforcement power over the laws that impact safe, legal abortion access in the state. They’ll also have the ability to attack voting rights from within the halls of power and curb enforcement of laws that seek to hold corporations accountable for exploiting workers and consumers.

The attorney general of Nevada is the people’s lawyer. This November, you have the power to choose who represents you–who fights for you on the issues you care about, and what side they take on those fights.

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